Well, talk about a topic I was hoping I wouldn’t have to blog about twice in one week… good grief. Last night, while working on a client website, I was infected, yet again, with another one of these fake security viruses. This one, again, blew through the anti-virus and anti-spyware like it wasn’t even there.

After chatting with the security department at HostGator, there are a couple of loopholes these viruses are sneaking through that I want to keep people aware of.

First, make sure that your version of Adobe Flash Player is updated and current. There is a loop hole in the older software that is allowing these bugs to infiltrate systems, which can, also impact web hosts.

Second, after speaking with a computer tech this morning, I learned that Windows XP is especially vulnerable, right now, to these attacks.

Third, if you are behind on your Windows security updates, get up to date a.s.a.p. If you aren’t updated then these bugs can get into your system with relative ease, even if you think you are protected.

Files you should be watching your system for… siszyd32.exe, wwwpos32.exe, and there are others. If you find a file in your system control that looks suspicious then Google it to find out for sure.

There is also talk of these files coming through Facebook. Anyone asking you to click a link concerning pictures they have found of you online are probably dangerous, do not click on them. Walk on the side of caution whatever you do online, right now.

Any e-mails from people you don’t know asking you to click blind links are also dangerous. DELETE THEM! Better safe than sorry. These e-mails can even appear to have come from family. Many are based around a request to view pictures, participate in offers or respond to a bank issue. Even if they look legit there’s a good chance they are not. If you receive something that looks like it’s from your bank, PayPal or any other service you are using online, before you click anything in those messages, call the institution in question first.

The wwwpos32.exe file did so much damage to my main machine this morning that it wouldn’t even reboot in safe mode. Thus, it’s in the shop being recovered.

Malware Bytes (see previous blog post on virus threats) seems to be the best for removing these files. As far as anti-virus goes, I’m not sure what to recommend right now because this bug is easily bypassing, BitDefender, McAfee and Norton. The tech and the computer shop recommended Avast this morning as the top AV software right now. You can download it free through www.avast.com.

As I know more about these bugs and how to fix them, I’ll keep you posted. Tread lightly wherever you go right now, these viruses seem to be everywhere and many don’t even realize their computers and web hosts are infected.

Have a great weekend!

Rex